Notes

Less than 10% of all published works in developed countries are made into accessible formats. In developing countries, the situation is even worse: less than 1% of books are accessible

In Harpur’s opinion, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (see box) has started a new disability politics, which is essentially a new era in how society views and includes people with disabilities. “Moving forward, I think we are experiencing a paradigm shift, which will have far-reaching consequences for inclusion, and technology providers have the opportunity to be at the forefront of enabling society for all uses.”

Exceptionally enabling is the capacity to have students submit material electronically, so I get my students to upload the assignments in Word into Blackboard Learn and I can click on a “download all” function, download them all to my computer, mark them all and upload and read comments.

New technologies can be enabling and disabling depending on how they are designed

So, they have gone from unemployment to employment just because of technology advances.

There are obviously big moral and legal reasons. Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, and most of Europe, all have reasonably robust anti-discrimination laws

We try to become more proactive, but there’s always going to be a large reacting component to it. There will always be some issues, but the idea is to try to minimize them so that at every stage of that process, someone does not have to negotiate their access and their impairment

Examples of assistive technology include text-to-speech technology and keyboards, as well as low-tech tools like lined paper and pencil grips.

In a broad sense, AT is any device, software or equipment that helps people with disabilities work around challenges so they can learn, communicate and simply function better.

AT tools can help kids work around their weaknesses, while also playing to their strengths. This is especially important for kids who struggle with reading, writing, math and other issues

Many AT tools are high-tech, though. And because of advances in computer technology, tools are now available on a variety of platforms:

The school has to consider AT for kids with IEPs and 504 plans.

For kids with 504 plans, the law is not as specific about AT. However, under Section 504, kids have the right to accommodations to give them equal access to school. This right includes AT